The Cat Person debate shows how fiction writers use real life does matter
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 short story is again being debated, now over her alleged use of details drawn from life. The questions this raises do not have neat answers
November 2020
Top 10s
Top 10 books about consent
From Thomas Hardy to Kristen Roupenian, literature offers a changing map of the treacherous terrain of sexual relationships
August 2019
Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian on the trouble with writing about sex
Mary Gaitskill’s collection Bad Behaviour has defined her career. Will a new generation of female writers be stereotyped in the same way?
February 2019
The Guardian Books podcast
Leïla Slimani and Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian – books podcast
Why are so many women writing about rough sex?
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
You Know You Want This review – Cat Person and other tales of the unexpected
Book of the day
You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian review – dark short stories
January 2019
Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian: 'Dating is caught up in ego, power and control'
Cat Person fame was 'annihilating', reveals Kristen Roupenian
June 2018
Morality clauses: are publishers right to police writers?
Offensive opinions. Bullying. Sexual misconduct. As the literary world is rocked by scandal US publishers are asking authors to sign contracts with ‘morality clauses’. Are they really the answer?
April 2018
Claws out! Why pop culture clings to the crazy cat lady
For years, women with cats have been portrayed as lonely, sexless and eccentric – but why does this stereotype endure? And can millennial ailurophiles reclaim the purr-jorative?
March 2018
Complete fiction: why 'the short story renaissance' is a myth
With soaring sales, viral hits like Cat Person and a cameo by Tom Hanks, the form seems to be staging a comeback. But did it ever go away?
December 2017
Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian lands seven-figure US book deal
Cat Person author's debut book sparks flurry of international publishing deals
A tale of bad sex… Need I relate to it for the story to work?
Catherine Bennett
Cat Person: the short story that launched a thousand theories
Books blog
Cat Person is 'mundane', Austen is 'dross': why do so many men hate female writing?
Kaite Welsh
Cat Person going viral shows how rare it is to explore women’s sex lives
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Cat Person is familiar to women who feel powerless to stop a sexual encounter
